Rail anchor



' Oct.12,'1943. GERIGON 2,331,314

RAIL ANCHQR Filed Nov. 22, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 j'r venb C. G E11 1c5011.

Patented Oct. 12, 1943 Application November 22, 1940, Se'rial No.366,535

In Canada November 9, 1940 This application is a continuation-in-part'ofmy copending application, Serial No. 336,109, filed May 20, 1940, forRail anchors.

Since obtaining my prior patents numbered 1,402,852, 1,548,589, and1,996,286, issued January 10, 1922, August 4, 1925, andApril 2, 1935,respectively, it has beoomeincreasingly apparcut that rail anchors mustnot only function to prevent creepage of the rails but must prevent, orat least minimize, danger of' damage to the rails by derailed wheels.During the past few years rapid advancement has been made in rails androadbeds and in'every kind of railway rolling stock to'increase thespeed of trafiic of every description. LAccidental wheel derailments atsuch high speed have caused the flanges of the rails to be severelydamaged by the wheels striking certain parts of the rail anchors shownin my prior above-mentioned patents. The object of my present inventionis to provide a simple anchor of the type shown in my above-mentionedcopending application but which has been improved in certain respects toreduce the cost of manufacture and to reduce the possibility of dangerof damage to the rail by derailed wheels striking anchor parts.

The features of the invention are hereinafter described in connectionwith the accompanying drawings in which Fig. 1 is a perspective View ofmy rail anchor in service position on a rail base; i

Fig. 2 is a cross section of part of the rail showing the yoke in itsinitial position on a shoe; Fig. 3 is a horizontal section of the railshowing in plan, the parts shown in Fig. 2; v v

Fig. 4 a cross section of part of the rail show- 7 ing the yoke in aservice position on the shoe;

Fig. 5 a horizontal section of the rail showing in plan the parts shownin Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 a plan view of the underside of the shoe; Fig. '1 a perspectiveview of the shoe; Fig. 8 an end view of the short hook;

Fig. 9 a View showing the hooked end of the yoke disengaged from therail base by a derailed wheel; v Fig. 10 a view showing the upstandingportion of the yokedisengaged from the shoe by a derailed wheel; v g VFig. 11 a cross sectional detail through the shoe showing the yokeengaged therewith in its operative position; and

Fig. 12 a detail in plan of part of a shoe and yoke showing a modifiedform of the shoe engaging-portion of the yoke.

In the drawings like numerals of reference iniii dicate correspondingparts in the different figures. i x

The rail anchor is shown as applied to a rail of the conventional typehaving the usual head The railbase has the lower flat face 4, thevertical side edges 5; and the upper sloping face 6, and.

portion I, intermediate web 2 and base 3.

the rail is shown as resting upon the stationary tie 1.

The rail anchor as shown comprises a shoe adapted to fit and embrace anedge portion of therail base and a yoke adapted to span the rail baseand engage one edge'of the rail base and embrace the shoe to lock theparts in place upon therail. I

The shoe as constructed in accordance with the present inventioncomprises an elongated member having a slot formed longitudinallythereof to receive the rail edge,v and thisslot is formed with anon-continuous upper jaw comprising two lugs 8, 8 and a non-continuouslower jaw comprising two lugs 9, 9 The lower jaws or lugs 9, 9 arelocated at opposite ends of the shoeand have anopen space '9" betweenthem.

away portion 8 separating them. The slot has an upstanding rear wall [0which increases in thickness from the outer end of the shoe towards thetie engaging end thereof. of the shoe is inclined longitudinallyinwardly from the tie engaging end of the shoe to the outer end thereof.The said back hasa plane surface which. in addition to theabove-mentioned longitudinal inclination, is'also 'inclined inwardlytransversely of the shoe from the lower edge to the upper edge of saidback. 'Iheplane surface of the back I0 is therefore inclined intwo'directions, longitudinally and transversely. The upstanding rearwall I0 is provided intermediate its ends with a recess to ensurepositive contact, at both ends against the vertical edge 5 of the railbase. I

The lower jaws or lugs 9, 9 engage the'lower face 4 of the rail base inintimate contact and the intermediate open space 9? permits freemovement of the rail undulations under the impact of the traffic loadand the cut-away portion 8 between the upper jaws 8, .8 providesadditional clearance under conditions of extreme traffic undulations.While the lower jaws 9, 9

arein parallel contact with the underface 4 .of' the rail base, theupperjaws 8, 8 incline at a difierent angle than that of the upper slopingsurface 6 of the rail base to the extent that the Thus the back It!outer terminals of the jaws 8, 8 and 9, 9 are closer together than therail thickness to provide a pinching engagement between the jaws and therail base when the shoe is forced into position thereon.

The tie engaging end of the shoe is provided with a downwardly extendingabutment l4 having a broad tie engaging surface IS, a reinforcing flangeIS and a stiffening rib l'l.

Havingdescribed thejc'onstruction of the shoeof the present invention,the yoke of the present invention that cooperates therewith as the;clamping member will now be described.

The yoke comprises a resilient body portion;.l 8 1 adapted to extendunder and span the railbase 3. This body portion is provided at one endwith an upwardly extending short hook [9 of whichthei upstanding portion20 engages the verticaliedge 5 of the rail base flange and the inwardlyextending portion 2| engages, in overhanging relation, the uppersloping; surface 6 of the rail baseon-ly adjacent the edge 5 thereof.This inwardly, extending portion 2| of the short hook end isformed as alip having a depth less than the depth or thickness of the portion of.the rail base underlying the lip so that the mass of metal in the rail;base immediately beneaththe lip is greater than 9 The upwardly extendingportion 27 is in clined to a vertical plane in a direction correspondingto the transverse inclination of the shoe back ill but at a differentangle than that of said transverse inclination of the shoe back so thatinitially only the upper part or edge of the portion 21 will engage theupper part or edge of the back ifi The distance from the inner most edgeof the. upwardly extending portion 21 to. the inner surface of theupstanding portion 20 of the hook end, is such, relative to the width ofthe rail base 3 plus the thickness of the entering or outer end of thelongitudinally inclined portion. Ill of the shoe, that the steel yokemay readily. be placed in its starting position on the rail base and theshoe. The back of the latter is tapered or chamfered at 33 to facilitatethis without unduly increasing the length of the shoe.

the mass of metal in thelip. The upper surface a 23 of the lip 2! isupwardly and outwardly inr clined whereby it a rapidly revolvingderailed car wheel or the like engages the said inclined surface23 thelip will be forced from the upper sloping surface 6 into engagement withthe vertical edge 5 as shown inFig. 9 or the lipwi-llibe damaged. Ineither case the rail base will not, be. damaged because the lip will bebroken. off before it could be forced through the rail base.

The. upstanding portion 20 of the hook end. [0; is upset. in the forgingoperation and its cross, sectional areais increased so that, when thisend isforcedinto tension. transversely in relation to the upwardlyextending portion on the oppositeend of: the yoke the reinforcedupstanding portion 20: is capable of withstanding the tensional.stresses imposed during the application process andas may occur underthe creepage load and thusminimize the tension stresses in the over-.hanging lip 2|. 7

It will be noted that. not only is the width, at: the points"3.5, of theupstanding portion '20? greater than the. width of the bar from whichthe yoke is made but the thickness of the portion flgisialsogreater thanthat of the said bar. The cross. sectional, area ,of the portion 201 is;thus greater than that of the said bar. The increased; width oftheportion 20 is continued upwardly sothat the lip 21 is also wider thansaid bar where! by the cross sectional area-of the lip in. a horizontalplane is greater than the cross sectional, area of the bar. The depth orthickness of thelip is considerably less than that ofythe bar wherebythe cross sectional area of the lip; in a; vertical plane is less thanthe cross sectional area of. the bar. By making the lip 2|thinandincreasing the ruggedness of the upstanding por tion, I providethe least possible obstruction toa derailed wheel without sacrificingthe strength of the hook where it, is needed to withstand the abovementioned stresses. l

The opposite end of the, body portion It; has an upwardly extendingportion 2'! adapted to. engage: the back. Ill of the shoe. Betweentheportion 2:1 and: the. body portion lawhich underlies. the, rail baseisga downwardly extending portionili which clearstheunderside. ofgthelower jaws 9;

Thatisto say, the back it is inclined longitudinally inwardly towardsthe yoke entering end of the shoe and. is then tapered in the samedirection but more sharply at said entering end: whereby the back has a"double inclination longig tudinally thereof. As the yoke is forciblymoved along the rail base from the short; inclined or.- tapered end3 3to operative or service position. on the comparatively longerlongitudinally inclined part of 'the double inclination on the shoe.back; ill, the upper end of the upwardly extend.- ing'portion 2.1 willbeforced outwardly away from. the upstanding portion 20 of. the hook endof theyoke and thus the underlying, body portion 18 of the yoke will besprungupwardly-against the lower face of the rail base 3 which resultsin the upwardly extending portion: 2! being drawn gradually towardsparallelism with the transverse inclination of theshoe back l3 toincrease its gripping engagement therewith. In other words, only; theupper part or edge-of the yoke portion I 21; engages the upper part oredge of the tapered.

or shortinclined:enteringend 33 of the shoe back Hiewhen the yokeisinitially positioned-on theshoe and subsequently; the upper part. of theportion 2?- is-drawninwardly so that a greater area thereof will engagethetshoe back when the, yoke is moved to its operative'or serviceposition ongthe shoe. Any tendency of theportion '27 to loosen itselffrom the shoe is thus resisted. To, avoid any possibility of lesseningthe tension between the upper part ofsaid portion the upper part of theshoeback which-might resultin the yoke becoming loose onthe shoe, theparts are so designed that under. ordinary circumstances the extremelowerpar-t or edge of the back H will notice intimately contacted by theportion 2.3. The upper endof the portion-11 terminates adjacent theupper edge of theshoe backlo so thatthe said portion doesnot overlie theupper jaws. ll, 8? of the shoe.

The upwardly extendingportion 214sinitially twisted so tha't the shoe.engaging. face of. said portion normally lies substantiallyparallel tothe short longitud-inal= taper v33 ofthe shoe. The turned or twistedportion 21 facilitates the move. ment of the shoe engaging face of saidportion Halongtheshoe back Ill. During this-mowementthe portion llisdistorted. torfollow 'the contour of the other longitudinally inclinedpart of the shoe back 1 0K886 Figs. Ii -and 5. "Thus not ,onlyis. theupstanding portion rz 1 of the yoke, tensionally drawn into firm.engagement with the. shoe, butit is so distortedthatiitexertsa bitingengagement between saidpertion and the ene' gaged inclined surfaceLOP-ofthe shQet-oresisti withdrawal of-the yoke: therefrom.

, 2,331,314 a With this construction no'part of the upward-f 1yextending portion-21 overlies the'rail base; If

a derailed'wheel travelling at a high speed strikes theyoke portion 21or the shoe, the latter may be broken or the portion 2! shifted as shownin Fig.'10 but neither case will-the fiange of the rail base 3 bematerially damaged.

Instead of initially twisting or turning the upwardly' extending portion21, the latter may be formed with a rounded leading edge 34 which willmove along the in'clinedshoe back without digging into the latter andwill cause the portion 21 to be twisted or turned toresist withdrawal ofthe yoke from the shoe, see Fig. 12.

Preferably the shoeis madeof malleable iron and the yoke of steel theharder metal of the yoke will thus take a firm frictional grip'onthesofter metal of the :shoe to hold these parts'as positioned relative toone another and to the rail during extreme vibrations incident totrafilc. There are six point of engagementbetween the shoe and the railbase; three points of engagement between the yoke and rail base (lip 2|,up-' standing portion 2ll-and" body-portion '18 which engagestheunderside' of base), and one point of engagement between the-yoke andshoemaking'a total of ten separated points of engagement. 7 This ensuresproper tensioning of the yoke to ensure the necessary frictionalengagement between the yoke and the shoe and this engage ment' isfurther accentuated by the specific con-- structions of the anchorparts; V

- It will be seen from the-foregoing that the rail anchor of the presentinvention may be readily applied to a rail by positioning thevshoe on arail; with its abutment surface l5 engaging a tie l, and'then engagingthe 'yoke'with the rail by handsothat the upwardly extending portion 21'engages the short tapered'end 33 of the shoe as shown in Fig. 3." Theoperation is thereafter substantially unbendable material adapted toembrace one edge of a rail base and provided with a tie engaging end andaback having a plane surface inclined in two directions; first longi-,tudinally inwardly from the tie engaging end of the shoe to the outerend thereof to form a lon-.: gitudinal wedge portion inclined towardsthe edge of the rail base, and secondly transversely inwardly from thelower edge to the upper edge of said back; and a yoke of resilient metaladapted to span the rail base having a hook at one end adapted to engagethe edge of the base remote from the shoe and having an upwardlyextending portion at the other end adapted to engage the in-clined backof the shoe, the said upwardly extending portion being inclined in adirection corresponding to the transverse inclination of the back of theshoe but at a different angle than that of the said transverseinclination so that initially only the upper part of the said upwardlyextending portion will engage the upper edge of the said Wedge portionthus as the yoke is moved along the shoe to a service position theupwardly extending portion will be drawn gradually inwardly to increasethe area thereof in engagement with the Wedge portion to ensure a firmgripping engagement between said upwardlyextending portion andithe backof the (2. A railanchor comprising a shoe formed of i substantiallyunbendable (material adapted to:

embrace one' edge of'a rail base andprovided with atie engaging end anda back having a-planev surface inclinedintwodirections, firstlongitudinally inwardly from the tielengaging'end of the shoe to.theouter end thereof to form a longitudinalwedge portion inclinedtowards the edge of the rail base and secondly'transverselyinwardly'from'the lower edgeto the upper edge of said back; and'a yokeof resilientmetal'adapted to span the rail base having a hook at one endI adaptedto engage the edge of the base remote from the shoe and havingan upwardly extending "portion at I the other end adapted to engage theinclined back of the shoe, the said upwardly extending portion beinginclined in a direction corresponding to the transverse inclination ofthe back of the shoe but at a difierent angle than thatof the saidtransverse inclination, the said upwardly extending portion also. beinginitially turned to correspond to the longitudinal inclination of saidwedge portion butat a greater angle than that of the longitudinalinclination of said wedge portionso that initially only the rear upperpart of said portionwill engage the upper edge of said wedge portionthus establishinga firm gripping engagement between the said, up-.wardly' extending yoke portion and the wedge. portion .ofthe shoe bydistortion of the said yoke portion as it is moved along thewedgeportion t'oa servicegposition. e e i 3.2'A rail anchorvcomprising-a shoeformed of substantially unbendable material adapted to r embrace oneendof a rail base and provided with atie engaging end and a back having aplane "surface inclined intwo directions, first longi-v tudlnallyinwardly from the tie engaging end of the shoe to the outer end thereofto form a longitudinal wedge portion inclined towards the edge of therail base, and secondly transversely inwardly from the lower .edgeto theupper edgel I of the back, the; said outerend of thewedge portion beingtapered and a yoke of resilient metal adapted to span the rail basehaving a hook at one end adapted to engage the edge of the railbase'remote from the shoe and having an upwardly extending portion atthe other end adaptedvto engage'theinclined back ofthe shoe, the saidiupwardly extending portion being inclined in a directioncorresponding tothe transverse inclinationofi the back of the shoe but at a differeentangle Ethan-that of the said transverse inclina tion, the'saidupwardly extending portion also being initially turned so that its wedgeengaging face will lie substantially parallel'to the tapered end of thewedge portion so that initially only the rear upper part ofsaidiupwardly extending portion will engage the upper edge of the saidwedge portion thus establishing a firm gripping engagement between theupwardly extending yoke portion and the Wedge portion by distortion ofthe said yoke portion as the yoke is moved along the shoe to a serviceposition.

4. A rail anchor comprising a shoe formed of substantially unbendablematerial having a longitudinal extending slot to embrace an edge of a,rail base and formed between non-continuous lower jaws andnon-continuous upper jaws, the slot having a substantially vertical wallfor contacting the vertical edge of the rail base, the vertical wallhaving a slight recess formed intermediate its ends so that only thelatter contact the adjacent edge ioipthe railbase, the, back of, theVertical wall having a plane surface inclined in. two directions, firstlongitudinally, inwardly trom: the tie engaging end, of. the shoe to-theouter end thereof to form a wedgeportion extend-- ing; longitudinallyof: the shoe behind the slot,, and, secondly transversely inwardly fromthelower edge of the upperedgeoi the wedge. pot-i tion; and.a-ssteelyoke-constructed to span the raiLbase and provided at one; endwitha hook; for: engaging the edge of the; rail base remote from theshoe and provided at the oppositeend withanupwardly extending portionadapted to engage the transversely and longitudinallyinclined wedge.portion and yieldingly hold'the: shoe: in gripping engagement with therail base). 5. A rail anchor comprising avshoe formed of: substantiallyunbendable material having. a longlr tudinal extending slot to. embracean edge ofpa rail base and formed between non-continuous i lower jawsand non-continuous upper jaws, the slot having a substantially verticalwall for. con-' tasting the vertical edge of the rail base,.the verticalwall having a slight recess formed intermediate its ends so that onlythe latter contact the adjacent edge of the rail base, the back of thevertical wall having a plane surface inclined in two directions, firstlongitudinally inwardly fromthe tie engaging end of the shoe to theouter end thereof to form a wedge portion extending longitudinally ofthe shoe behind the a slot, and secondly transversely inwardly from thelower edge tothe upper edge of the wedge portion; and a steel yokeconstructed to span thev rail base and provided at one-end with a, hookfor engaging the edge :of *the. rail base remote engagement of theupwardly extending portion oi'the yoke with said wedge portion. a

6. A rail anchorcomprising' a shoe formed ot substantially unbendabl'ematerial adapted to engage one edge of a rail base andhavizi'g a backand a tie abutment, the backhaving a plane surface provided with adouble inclination both being longitudinally inwardly from the saidabutment and one forming a longitudinal wedge por tion inclined towardstheedge oi thera'il' base;

the other inclination being at'tne endortn wedge; portion remote- ,iromthe abutment and being ate; Sharper" angle; than; that or the wed e;

portionithe back alsobeing inclined transversely inwardly from the,lower edge to the upper edge thereof and a yoke of resilient metaladapted adapted to; engage the edge or the rail base, remote from,-theshoe and-having; an upwardly extending portion-at theothernd to,engage the wedgeportion, the: said upwardly extending portiombeinginclined in a direction correspond ing, to the transverse inclination ofthe shoe back:

but at a diiferent angle than" that of said transverse inclinationsothat initiallythe said upwardly extending; portion will engage onlyalong.

iace provided with a double inclination both.

beinglongitudinal inwardly from the said abutment, one. of saidinclinations, forming a longitudinal wedge-portion inclined towards theedge of the rail base, the other inclination being at.

the end of the wedge portion remote'irom the,

abutment and being at. a sharper angle than that otthe wedge. portion,the back also being inclined transversely inwardly from the; lower edgeto, the upper edge thereof; and a yoke of resilient metal adapted .tospan the rail base and engage the underside thereof, the yoke having asmall hook at one end adapted to engage the edge or the rail base remotefrom the shoe and having an upwardly extending portion at the other endto" engage the wed sportion, the said upwardly extendingportion being.inclined in a direction corresponding to .the transverse inclination ofthe wedge portion but at a difierent angle than,

rat ofjsaid; transverse inclination so that initially the said upwardlyextending portion will engage only alongits, upper part with the upper;edgcioi the said second mentioned longitudinal inclination, the saidupwardlyextending portion also being initially turned so that its wedgeengaging face will lie substantially parallel to the said secondmentioned longitudinal inclination remote from ithe abutment.

8'UA rail anchor constructed as set forth in claim l in which the upperedge of the upwardly extending yoke portion is substantially flush withthe upper edge of the wedge portion.

' CHARLES G. ERICSON.

